Ten people died this year at a kite-flying competition in Pakistan. The Dakar Rally has been responsible for 48 competitor deaths. Pole vaulting has the highest death rate of any American sport! Thatâ€™s just the beginning of the carnage in the Mental Floss article 6 Sports Too Deadly for Gym Class. Link

As a 12-14 year old growing up in suburban New Jersey in the late 1970s-early 80s, there were a lot of "not-so-safe" games we played (at home). No one worn any sort of protective gear likebike helmets or the like.

1. Head-Wobbler: In this fun game a group of n kids (say n=6) get in close together and throw up into the air n-1 sports balls of varied types (basketballs, soccer balls, kickballs, whatever). When they come down, everyone fights for them and uses them as weapons to throw against the kids who didn't get one. The idea is to bean somebody who is running away, giving them a "head wobbler". You could alternatively bring someone down by striking their thigh really hard with a ball. Bruises were many, especially if you got knocked down with a basketball (heavy).

2. Supreme Dictator: One kid on a bike riding figure 8s and circles in the street. The other kids have sports balls (of varied sorts) and try to knock him off and cause a crash.

3. Show No Mercy: 3 or 4 kids all on bikes in the street doing circles and trying to cut each other off or kick the other riders' front wheels (so as to cause a crash). To make it more interesting, we also would attempt to throw sticks (or rubber bungee cords) into each others' spokes. If one was able to bring down another rider through such a maneuver, it was called (I kid you not) "An Ultimate Spoker"